A Normal Knees Birthday
by DeamonHunter
Summary: Sometimes, people can't be there for that special day, that doesn't mean that they don't care, or that they don't love you. After all, they may not be there in body, but those closest to you are always there in spirit. Besides, with Nora, Jaune and Ren there to make Ruby feel better, what could possibly go wrong? January 2017 Moncon Winner.


A Normal Knees Birthday.

Special thanks to /u/Vavoyosh/ over on reddit for pointing out several glaring grammar mistakes.

* * *

On Patch, Yang Xiao-Long was writing a letter. She sat at the desk in her room, concentrating deeply on what she was writing. It was incredibly important to her and it had to be perfect. The stump of her left arm throbbed, causing her hand to instinctively twitch towards it, the lovely cursive of her letter splotched by the impulse. She took a deep breath calming herself in the process.

A knock on the door snapped her from her meditative state. "Come in," She said loudly, opening her lilac eyes once again and turning towards the door. It opened quietly as the smiling face of Taiyang Xiao-Long came into view.

"Still working on the letter?" he asked. She let out a hollow laugh.

"Still failing to write the letter." She replied picking up the paper. She caught Taiyang's vision turn towards the trash bin, now filled with the crumpled remains of other copies.

"You're sure you want to write it in cursive? She wouldn't care if it was in simple print. Hell, I'm certain a text would be more than enough for her."

Yang nodded. "It has to be cursive, Mom would always write us letters in cursive on our birthdays." She turned toward the window, a weight in her chest. As she thought of her sister "Besides, It might be two months from now but…"

* * *

 _Tomorrow's my Birthday!_ Ruby mentally cheered as she walked down the narrow path. The heavily forested, Grimm infested land around them did nothing to hide her enthusiasm. Why would it? Being a huntress was fun! And she was with a team, it might not have been her team specifically, but it was still a team full of her friends! Ruby continued her inner monologue of how wonderful her birthday would be, complete with a variety of unique events. Her smile only grew as they continued down the path, heading deeper into the forest. Completely ignorant of Jaune's pleas for help beside her.

Next to her, Jaune was mildly perplexed Ruby was usually the most helpful person he knew. Now, however, she was seemingly ignoring him. He had long since given up the pretense that he knew exactly where they were. Especially since he had turned the map upside down without noticing several times in the first few weeks. He personally thought the only reason Ren wasn't Map-man (or whatever the position was called, Guide maybe?) was the fact that Jaune owned the map.

"Uh, Ruby?" Jaune asked weakly, dedicating himself to one last attempt before assuming she was purposefully ignoring him. Ruby turned her head, a big smile on her face.

"What's up Jaune?" She asked, her hands behind her head as she strolled lazily down the path beside him.

"Uh, well, we're headed into a town, so maybe we should spend some money and get a few rooms at a local inn tonight."

"Yeah! That sounds awesome!" Nora cheered behind them, with Ren quietly nodding in agreement.

"That would be wise, we'll probably be camping for some time after this. A comfortable bed is not a luxury we will always have."

"Whelp," Ruby began, "I think that covers that. So how far too the town?"

Jaune slowed his pace as he examined the map. "We'll get to a fork in the pathway, we need to take the left I think." He said, trailing a finger up a dotted line on the map.

So where are we?" Nora asked approaching her leader and pocking her head over his shoulder to get a better look at the map.

"We should be around here." Jaune said confidently, happy he was helping.

Ren cleared his throat, and pointed at a point on the map below where Jaune had indicated. "We just passed this landmark."

Jaune chuckled. "So we might be a little farther away than I thought."

"So how far away are we?" Ruby asked, secretly excited that she would be spending her birthday in a town rather than sleeping on the ground again.

Jaune smiled. "We'll get there by sundown."

The trail was unusually quiet as they continued to walk, almost in complete silence.

"Are you sure we'll get there before sundown?" Ruby asked eventually.

"Sorry, But I don't think so." Jaune said sadly, cursing his own optimism.

* * *

In Atlas, Weiss Schnee was also preparing. She was preparing for an accursed concert, all so that her father's lackeys could feel better about themselves. But she was also preparing for something which she frustratingly could not witness in person.

"That dolt, she can't just leave a mailing address, can she? I needed to go and look up her address on Patch. Then I had to deflect questions from father, if she knew how difficult this was to prepare…" She wiped her hands on the greasy cloth, ignoring the strange stare from the Atlas student beside her.

Somehow, she had convinced her father to give her a day to explore Atlas Academy, ostensibly so that she could decide if she wanted to study there. She had made it clear to Ironwood on the bullhead, that she was going for a far more personal reason. Namely to use the forge. When she had outlined what she wanted to do he had asked if she wanted help, she had refused. Part of her was regretting that now. Prepping rounds of ammunition was much more difficult than she had imagined it to be.

She smiled in triumph as she finally loaded the last of the dust into the bullet casing and sealed it. She examined the bullet, the casing had her sigil on the back, a snowflake. The bullet itself was tipped with white Dust, marking it as an ice round. She placed it in a custom clip designed especially for a certain over-sized scythe-sniper rifle. "I hope she likes this, now for fire." Weiss muttered as she began the process with new dust.

* * *

"I'm just saying we should do something! She'd love a sloth based cake!" Nora hissed.

"I agree with Nora that we should get a cake, but we need to get gifts! What should we get?" Jaune replied quietly, quickly glancing over at Ruby who was examining another huntsman's weapon.

"I have an idea." Ren said.

"Ren, If you say give her green tea..." Nora began.

Ren quietly took a sip of the steaming cup of green tea in front of him. "What if I said black tea?" He proposed to the groaning of both Jaune and Nora.

"What? It's lightweight and useful. We can't get her something that she can't use, we have to stay on the move."

"And there's another problem…" Jaune moaned, slumping on the table, waving his empty wallet.

"Do we really need to give her something? She would understand if we simply made her a cake. It is not like we have all that much money anyway." Ren asked

Nora looked aghast "It's her birthday! You always gave me a cake and presents on my birthday!"

"I don't think a mud-cake and imaginary presents actually count in this instance." Ren retorted calmly.

"Still, think of the principle!"

"That's it," Jaune said snapping his fingers. His two friends looked at him perplexed. "We bake a cake and that's our gift! Practical, lightweight, useful and made with love! How could it go wrong! There's no problem!"

"What's a problem?" A chipper voice asked from behind Jaune. Jaune nearly leapt out of his skin as he spun around to see Ruby behind him.

Jaune thought fast. Perhaps a little too fast. "Ren has a problem!" He squeaked.

Ruby paused turning to Ren. What's the problem Ren? I'm sure we can fix it."

"It's uh… It's kinda private."

"He's still in denial." Nora faux-whispered. "He's dealing with addiction."

"Nora!" Ren exclaimed turning to his friend in shock.

Ruby crossed her arms a nodded. "My dad always said the first step towards recovery was admitting the problem. Work on that Ren."

"Ruby, It's not addiction."

Ruby however was ignoring him and instead turned to Jaune. "Now Jaune have you identified the problem? When did it start?"

"The problem…" Jaune started to sweat he cast a sideways glance at a very displeased Ren before turning back to ruby. "Well you see. Ren's addicted to uh…"

"Green tea! He can't get enough of it," Nora jumped in.

Ruby paused, processing this new information. "Nora, I'm not sure you can get addicted to green tea…"

Ren took a sip of his green tea before looking away from the group. "Is that a mecha-shift spear-gatling gun combo?" he asked absently.

"Ohmygosh! Where?" Ruby exclaimed before rushing off.

Ren took one more sip of his green tea. Before he set it down and glared at his friends. "Now to get cake ingredients." He took another sip. "And for the record, I do not have a problem."

* * *

Blake Belladonna sat on the edge of the ferry heading towards Menagerie. She stared at the shore, fading in the distance. Flicking open her scroll she looked at the time, debating how long she had to read before dinner. Glancing at the date she frowned.

"It's her birthday tomorrow." She muttered to herself. Being honest with herself was difficult. A few months ago, Yang had made her promise to help prepare for Ruby's birthday party. The memory brought a smile to her lips, as well as a sharp pang of longing to her heart. Things had seemed so much simpler at Beacon, but it had just been her naivete. Her past had caught up with her, and it had hurt everyone she cared about.

She hesitated, as she waited for the guilt to wash over her. She debated what to do. She couldn't really buy a present, and she couldn't exactly send a letter. But she had to do something for Ruby's birthday. Ruby was practically family. A text was too impersonal, it was something anyone could do. It needed to be something from her, from Blake belladonna.

She sighed and pocketed her scroll. She'd think it over and decide before dinner. She pulled the ship ticket out of her pocket "Third floor. Well it'll have a nice view." She pocketed the ticket and walked towards the stairs.

* * *

Ruby was a bundle of energy, bouncing up and down. Jaune and Nora had returned with piles of bags, Ren had banned her from the kitchen and she had eventually been locked in the room. Now she was pacing excited for whatever was coming. She was brought back to reality by her scroll beeping. She zoomed over to it. Her eyes widened as she saw the sender.

"Blake." She whispered. She quickly clicked on the screen. Within a couple of moments the video was loading.

Blake's face appeared, a smile, slightly forced on her face.

"Hey ruby, it's Blake. I wanted to wish you a happy Birthday. I know I'm not there with you and Yang," Ruby's heart sank a little at that. "But I'm there in spirit. I'm really sorry for what I did, how I left. I probably hurt you and Yang, tell her I'm sorry, and that I promise to come back."

Blake rubbed her face.

"It's been awhile, I'm sure a lot is going on back at Patch. Or knowing you, you and Yang and the others are out saving the world. Don't be too reckless, stay safe. You guys are really important to me. You're like family. You and Yang and Weiss accepted me for who I am, and you have no idea how important that has been to me."

Ruby bit her lip, trying not to cry, she felt her eyes water.

Blake exhaled slowly before looking back at the camera " But this isn't the time or the place for a sob story. I just wanted to say happy birthday, and I promise to bring back a gift we next meet up. So, happy birthday Ruby. I miss you a lot. Bye for now."

The video stopped. Ruby sat there staring at the scroll. A weak smile was on her face, even as tears streamed down her eyes. She pressed the play button on her scroll again and her small smile grew larger.

"Ren, Are the candles lit?"

"Yes Jaune."

"Nora! Are you ready to sing?"

"Of course!"

"Okay. In three… two…one… go!" Jaune pushed open the door.

"Happy Birthday Ruby!" He shouted with a big smile. Nora and Ren started to sing happy birthday, but the words died in their throats Jaune's smile fell as he entered the room. It was small and dark, but ruby could be easily seen in the moonlight. She was staring at her scroll, the sound of sniffling clearly audible. Jaune rushed over.

"Ruby what's wrong?" He asked kneeling down and resting a hand on the girl's shoulder. Ruby looked up, her eyes were red and her cheeks puffy. Strangely there was a slight smile on her face. She held up the scroll, the video of Blake still playing.

"I'm glad she's alright but… but…"

Jaune pulled her into a hug. "It's okay Ruby, she's your friend, it's okay to miss her."

Ruby hung on tightly as the tears flowed freely.

"I miss them! You guys are great but I miss Yang! I miss Weiss, I miss Blake…" She looked down. "I miss Team RWBY…"

In the meantime, Ren had placed the cake on a nearby desk. He and Nora quietly walked over.

"We know Ruby." He said gently as he was wrapped in a hug with the other three.

Slowly Jaune released the hug, wiping a tear from Ruby's eyes. "They wouldn't want you to cry on your birthday, would they?"

Ruby shook her head and gave them a weak smile.

"Besides! We have cake!" Nora said lifting the cake and putting it in front of Ruby. There was a hint of desperation in her voice. She was desperate to stop Ruby from Crying, knowing full well that if Ruby cried, it was likely that she would as well, which would cause Ren to start to tear up, and then Jaune would follow, and that would make Ruby's birthday suck.

Ruby's eyes lit up as she saw the cake. It was a simple cake with pale white frosting, in jelly, spread with a knife, were the words "happy birthday Ruby". The candles flickered back and forth, wax starting to ooze onto the cake itself.

She laughed as she scooted away from the others a little. The small group spread into a semi-circle. Ren pulled out some plates as Nora plopped party hats on all of their heads.

"Thanks guys." Ruby said quietly.

"Happy birthday Ruby," Jaune said as Ren and Nora smiled.

"Now make a wish," Nora cheered. Ruby smiled as she blew out the candles.

The others cheered. Ren picked up the cake to slice it. Each of them asking for a certain slice of cake, even Jaune was pointing to specific slice.

"Ruby first," Ren said, handing slice to Ruby. She glanced at the slice curiously.

"Was the cake smaller than I thought?" She asked. Ren shook his head as she gave a piece to the cheering Nora as well as one to Jaune.

"There's an old tradition in my family."

"I think it is just to use up the candles!" Nora chirped. Ren smiled slightly and shook his head.

He brought over four more plates each with a lit candle in the middle. He placed down the first next to Ruby.

"For Yang, a sister who needs a piece that is just right." He placed the next down next to Yang's slice.

"For Blake, a dear friend who is far away." Placing the third piece. "For Weiss, who is working hard in Atlas."

He paused, taking a deep breath before placing the last slice down next to Jaune.

"And for Pyrrha, who we know is no longer here in body, but is always with us in our hearts."

He sat down in front of his own piece and closed his eyes. "A moment of silence for those who could not be with us today to celebrate. Know that they are not forgotten. Not today, not ever."

Ruby closed her eyes wondering what her teammates were doing. Hoping, praying that they were alright.

Nora closed her eyes, reminiscing about her experiences at Beacon. At a time when things were simpler, when her world was brighter.

Jaune recalled Pyrrha, he remembered how powerless he felt at the end, and promised to grow stronger, so he no longer had to feel that way.

Ren allowed his mind to empty, no thoughts, no images. It was the only time he felt truly at peace anymore. He smiled. "And know time for cake."

Slowly the once silent room was filled with chatter, as Ruby complimented him on the cake, Jaune struggled to defend his piece from Nora who then asked when she could have a second slice.

"And that is where the best part comes in." Nora said, reaching for one of the plates with cake on it. "Since the cake will go bad before they get to eat it, we do it in their stead."

Nora cheered, grabbing Weiss's piece and quickly swallowing it. Ruby laughed, imagining the Heiress quaking in horror at Nora's manners, and the fact that Nora basically stole Weiss's piece of cake.

Ren quietly took Blake's piece. Offering a silent prayer that the ninja wasn't secretly tailing them. He could only imagine her reaction at him taking her cake.

Ruby picked up Yang's slice of cake, confident that her sister wouldn't mind. Besides, Ruby would make her cookies when they next met.

Jaune lifted Pyrrha's piece. He smiled slightly, remembering his partner. The good times and the bad. He put the piece down in front of him, deciding not to eat it just yet. Instead he joined in on Ruby and Nora's conversation on the merits of sloths.

Ren observed this with a smile, happy that Ruby was no longer feeling down.

The chatter was interrupted by a knock at the door. Ren, the only one not deeply involved in an argument about dragons, sloths and sniper rifles.

Ren stood, quickly striding over to the door. He checked the peephole, seeing only a man in overalls and a collared shirt staring blankly back he opened the door. The others, ignorant of the potential threat continued to chatter.

The delivery man looked mildly drunk. He reeked of alcohol. His face was unshaven and his raven black hair was greasy and looked like it had not been combed in months. "Delivery for Ruby Rose?" he said holding out a small envelope a cocksure smile on his face. Ren took it looking at Ruby's name written in beautiful cursive, he didn't recognize the handwriting. Turning it over his eyes widened slightly in surprise at the name written on the back. He smiled.

Looking back up he started as he saw the deliveryman was nowhere to be found. His eyes narrowed, glancing left and right in suspicion. He sighed, wondering exactly who it was. He closed the door and approached the group again. They were still chatting idly, rather than be concerned about who was at the door. Ren almost laughed, it was typical of his friends.

"Ruby, you got a message. It's from Yang."

In a burst of petals Ruby was in front of him, the letter practically vanished from his hands as she rapidly opened the envelope.

Ruby looked as if she was in awe as she read the single page. From behind Jaune could see the flowing script.

Ruby didn't speak a word of the letter out loud. A faint smile on her lips as tears threatened to once again flow. She took a deep breath and exhaled. She reached inside the envelope and pulled out a small picture.

"This is great." She said softly. The other three came a stood behind her, craning their necks to see the picture.

It was a candid photo. In one corner Yang stood, holding the camera and giving a peace sign. Behind her stood Weiss berating a laughing Ruby, Blake stood near a wall, staring in horror at some mess that wasn't pictured. Pyrrha was lifting a bedraggled Jaune off the ground. while Nora was pointing, and laughing, Ren was shaking his head, a smile on his lips.

"Yeah, it is." Jaune agreed quietly. His eyes clearly on his partner.

"You think we'll ever see Beacon again?" Ruby asked, glancing at her friends.

Nora hugged her tightly with a laugh. "Of course, silly! We find out what's going on at Haven, then come back, beat those lousy Grimm, save the school and then eat a host of pancakes!"

Even Ren could tell that is was a little forced, but the bubbly hope and optimism was contagious. He smiled and placed a comforting hand on Ruby's shoulder. "We'll go back." He said gently.

Nora paused, as if a thought just occurred to her.

"Where's Weiss's gift?"

Ruby shrugged. "Don't worry about it." She said sitting down on her bed. "I'm sure she's just holding on to it for when we next meet."

Jaune chuckled. Sitting down next to her. "That would be like Weiss, wouldn't it?"

"Anyway! I think we forgot something important!" Nora said, clapping her hands together.

"What?" Ruby asked, a confused look on her face.

"Three, Two, One. Happy birthday to you~" Nora began to sing, as Jaune and Ren joined in.

Ruby smiled, she held her scroll and Yang's letter close. She smiled, and hoped her wish that night would come true, she hoped that next year, they could all celebrate together.

* * *

Back on Patch a different deliveryman knocked on the Xiao-Long household's door. When no one answered he eft the box on the ground and left.

Yang opened the door, too late to see the deliveryman. But she did see the large box, pale white in color the words Danger stamped haphazardly on every side, sitting on their doorstep. She didn't recall ordering anything. Which made the box's appearance even more confusing.

Now that she thought about it, she hadn't seen Zwei all day, maybe dad had tried to ship him to Ruby?

She looked at the return address. She sighed with a smile, of course this would happen. She lifted the box with a grunt, it was a lot heavier than it looked. What had she gotten Ruby? She lugged the box inside before letting it down on the dining room table. She sighed in relief, intentionally ignoring the sound of cracking wood.

"Dad!" She called out. "How much does it cost to ship something to Haven?"

"A lot! Why do you ask?"

"Ruby's got a birthday present!"

The sound of cracking wood got louder, Yang turned in time to see one of the table legs give way, causing the whole to table to collapse with a loud crunch.

"Yang," Taiyang called, "what was that?"

"Weiss's gift for Ruby! It's really heavy!"

* * *

A/N: So a more serious Moncon Submission. This one was tough, but hopefully you enjoyed it! Leave your opinions in the reviews!

Edit: 2/3/2017 Edited grammar based on Vavoyosh's recommendations, although I could've missed a few errors. If you notice any errors please point them out.

Happy January.

DeamonHunter


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